


The Fall is Only the Beginning

by BridgetteIrish



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, F/F, hostile takeover, pre-supercat, slow-burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-18 07:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8153266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetteIrish/pseuds/BridgetteIrish
Summary: Canon Divergence during the events of Hostile Takeover.  Dirk was not overheard, his plan was not discovered and Cat follows through with her plan to step down from CatCo in order to save Adam.But for a cat, the fall is only the beginning and even falling from a great height, cats always land on their feet.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The White Queen Falls](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3254234) by [writtensword](https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtensword/pseuds/writtensword). 



> For September Supercat Slam - Theme "Fall"  
> This is a work in progress. I was unable to complete it all before the deadline, so the rest is yet to come. Look for it very soon.  
> Many thanks to my editors: fictorium, rtarara, spaceshipsarecool, abcooper, abydosdork for your suggestions and for wading through my nonsense to elevate my work. You are my superheroes.
> 
> This was loosely inspired by The White Queen Falls, a brilliant Mirandy story by writtensword. With her permission, of course.
> 
> Please enjoy.

“So, it is with a heavy heart but a sound, resolved mind that I am stepping down as President and CEO of CatCo Worldwide Media.  I have sold my majority shares of stock to undisclosed members of the CatCo board of directors, the names of which are available in this afternoon’s press release.”  

Cat looked up from the notes on her podium across the sea of faces, some of whom worked for her own news outlets.  “Building CatCo made me who I am today, a strong, independent, wealthy, powerful woman who cares about truth, justice, and the American story.  I go forward from CatCo that same woman, in pursuit of those same virtues. Not magnanimously or with kindness, but with a fire in my belly and my personal story on the tip of my tongue.”  

She removed her glasses.  “The world is full of small men, men who want what others have and who want to be worshipped for no other reason than they believe themselves worthy of it.  It is these men who have used my truth not against me, but against those that I love.  Those who are helpless to defend themselves. Those who are not even aware of the impending harm.  And it is for those loved ones that I let those small men win today.”  

Her eyes hardened and she gripped the podium.  “But rest assured, that when my loved ones are safe from harm, and I will ensure their safety, my story will be told. And as you all know - and as these small men should be aware - nobody tells a story like Cat Grant.”  

She replaced her glasses, gathered her notes and leaned into the microphones.  “Thank you for your time.”

The roar of questions from the sea of reporters on the plaza filled Kara’s ears from where she stood several feet behind the podium, hands folded in front of her, steely gaze firmly in place.  As Cat breezed past her, her nose was filled with that earthy, spicy scent and she turned and followed her back into the building, playing the part of the devoted assistant to the nines.

It had been a wretched day; a day of fruitless attempts to trace the hack, of fielding questions from skittish board members, and of waiting with bated breath for Cat’s legendary chill to thaw and for the meltdown to begin.  Kara wasn’t sure what she expected, exactly, only that she knew there was only so much stress, pressure and heartbreak one person could endure in a day. And Cat Grant had to be reaching the end of her rope.  She made a mental note to place a bourbon in her hands and her overdue dose of Lexapro on her desk when they returned to the office.

Kara tapped on her tablet as Cat’s elevator doors opened and she gave her boss a shy smile as the doors began to close and Kara started towards for the public elevators.  She was startled when a braceleted hand dove between the closing doors.  The doors slid back open and with an unreadable expression, Cat spat “Get in,” and moved to the back corner of the elevator.

Kara scrambled in and tucked herself into the opposite corner of the elevator wordlessly, pressing her tablet close to her breast and doing her best to sneak sideways glances at Cat across the small car.

“I’m fine, Kiera.  You can stop looking at me like I might-”  When Cat’s words stopped so abruptly, Kara turned to her fully.  She watched as Cat drew in a shaky breath and dropped her chin to her chest. “-like I might…”  Cat looked small, smaller than her 5’5” frame, smaller than the empress that ruled the world from her high tower each day. Smaller than the hero she had proven herself to be.  Cat Grant was larger than life and when the word ‘small’ entered Kara’s description of her, she knew her fall had well and truly begun.

But that didn’t mean others had to see it.

Kara reached over and pressed the emergency stop button on the elevator panel.  The car screeched to a halt.  

“What are you doing?” Cat’s eyes snapped to Kara’s.  In the instant before her iron walls came back up, Kara saw a lifetime of grief and shame painting Cat’s features.  Everything she had worked for: the life, work, empire she had built; Kara saw it all come crashing down in the depths of Cat’s shining eyes.

“I thought you might need a few minutes, just to process, before having to face an office full of people right now.  It’s been a very emotional day, Miss Grant.  I just want you to-”

“To what?  Cry? Wail? Gnash my teeth?  To throw myself into my assistant’s arms and pour my broken heart onto her linebacker shoulders?”

Kara couldn’t hide the hurt that flashed across her face.  She’d never admit out loud that that very fantasy had played out in her head the second she hit the stop button.  Every image of Kara soothing Cat through her pain evaporated.  She curled her arms around her tablet to prevent them from reaching out without her permission.  She choked out a cursory, “Of course not, Miss Grant.  Sorry,” and hit the button again.  The car lurched into motion.  She retreated to a corner and swiped open her tablet again.  

“Carter is scheduled to be dropped off here instead of the penthouse at 4:00 so you can say goodbye before the car takes him to the airport.  I double checked his flight and called his father.  I’ve already stopped at the penthouse and picked up a few things so you can go straight to the Malibu house from the office without stopping there first.  I’m sure it’s crawling with press.   I’m having Douglas bring the Mercedes and park it in the lower lot so you won’t have to use a CatCo towncar as long as you’re still ok driving yourself.  And -”

Cat reached past Kara and slammed the emergency stop button again.  This time it was Kara who lurched as the car came to a stop and Cat placed a steadying hand on her waist, out of sheer instinct and proximity.  
Their eyes met and Kara swallowed heavily.  “Are you alright, Miss Grant?”  
  
“You don’t need to do any of those things..  You are no longer my assistant.  You are a part of CatCo and as of a few minutes ago, CatCo is no longer mine.  I will do what I can to make sure you are placed appropriately in a job that will take advantage of your considerable talent and drive.”  Cat stepped out of Kara’s personal space and crossed her arms.  
  
Kara shook her head vehemently.  “I don’t work for CatCo, Miss Grant.  I work for you.  You promised me I would always have a job with you, should I want one.”  Kara’s voice was confident and resolute.  “I will _always_ want one.”  


“May I ask you something, Kara?”  Cat had tucked her hands in the pockets of her pants and leaned against the wall of the elevator, head cocked to the side like a curious pet.  
  
Kara was momentarily stunned, first by the sound of her true name coming from Cat’s lips, then by the shock of Cat asking permission for anything.  “O- of course, Miss Grant.  You can ask me anything.  You know that.”  
  
“Why hide it?”  
  
Confused, Kara blurted, “Hide what?”  
  
Cat stepped in close again, arms still crossed and eyes narrowed.  “Do me a favor and take off your glasses.”  
  
A sliver of fear, white hot and jarring, tore through Kara and she stumbled, backed into the corner of the elevator.  “We should get back to the office, Miss Grant.  I’m sure there are personal things you’ll want to gather before you have to leave and I really should make those final few phone calls.”  She turned to the elevator panel, determined to get them moving again.  A slender hand closed around her wrist.  
  
“Do you think I haven’t noticed?  The convenient absences when Supergirl turns up on CatCo cameras?  The meeting notes so detailed that only someone who could hear the under breath mumbles at the far end of the table would be able to transcribe?  The speed at which my lunch arrives from halfway across the city in noon traffic?  The suddenly acceptable heat of my latte’s which corresponded perfectly with the arrival of Supergirl, savior of the _Trib_.  I asked you to find me a hero, Kiera…”  She took another step closer.  “And you did.”  

Cat was dangerously close now.  Her scent and energy had shattered Kara’s composure and she had begun to shake like a leaf.  Cat Grant knew her secret.  Only disaster could follow now.  This was the kind of story that could save her company for her.  She only needed proof.  

Cat had begun to smile.  Kara knew that smile.  It was the same smile she’d seen the day Cat had rolled back the layoffs at the _Tribune_.  Her voice had gone predatory and soft.  “My secret weapon.  My guardian angel.”  She pressed her lips together.  “I’m only sorry you weren’t able to save me from this latest debacle.”  
  
Kara’s eyes dropped in shame.  “So am I,” she said quietly.  

It was Kara’s greatest failure to date.  Bigger than the oil spill.  Bigger than the road rage.  If only she’d seen something, heard something.  She pressed her lips together and squared her shoulders.  
  
“Your glasses, Kiera, or I take it as confirmation.”   
  
Kara turned her head to the side.  She could see her reflection, distorted, but unmistakably hers in the chrome doors of the elevator.  She slowly pulled her glasses from her face and with a deep, fortifying breath, met Cat Grant’s inquisitive eyes with her own.  
  
Another smile spread across Cat’s features.  “Well, allow me to say thank you, for everything you’ve done for me… Supergirl.”  
  
Kara did press the emergency button on the panel again, sparking the elevator to life once more.  “Whatever you think you know, Miss Grant… I- I’m not… her.”  
  
“I know what I know, Kiera.  And I know you.  I’ll spare you the research, dossiers and proof I’ve gathered over the weeks.  I’ll leave it all behind when I go.”  Cat’s eyes turned sad and she looked up as the elevator counted the floors one-by-one drawing closer to Cat’s ultimate departure from the only place she had ever truly belonged.  “I suppose you are quite relieved, now that I no longer have the power of the media at my fingertips.  I will be unable to expose you.”  
  
Before Kara was able to respond, the ding of the elevator signaled their arrival on the fortieth floor.  

“Convenient, isn’t it?” Cat threw over her shoulder as she strode into the bullpen with the same swagger she had every morning since Kara had known her, as though she held the world on a leash at her command.  
  
The hurt that washed through Kara at the veiled accusation turned quickly to fury and she stormed through the bullpen after her boss.  Cat was just sitting herself behind her desk and pulling open drawers to begin emptying them out when Kara slammed her hands on the desk, eyes flashing and bright.  Cat started and stared at her incredulously.  
  
“If I am no longer your employee, does that mean I can speak freely?”  The timbre of her voice indicated Cat would not truly be given a choice.  Kara got a quiet nod in response. 

She set her jaw and poured out her heart.  “If I am who you say I am, and I have done the things you say I’ve done, what makes you think that any part of me is capable of this level of betrayal?  Do you really think so little of me, Cat?  That I would strip you of your power, your passion, your  _ life  _ just to save myself?  

Kara pushed off the desk and began to pace.  “Two years I’ve stood by your side.  I’ve taken your digs at my clothes and my hair and my posture.  I’ve listened to you call me the wrong name every day.  I’ve worked and fought and driven myself half crazy to make your days a little bit easier. And even now, on the worst day of your life, I’m standing here, asking you how I can make it better.”  

Cat had leaned back in her seat in surprise.  She didn’t speak, but she leveled Kara with a look of respect she’d only ever given Supergirl.  

It tore at Kara even more.  Supergirl was everything.  Kara Danvers was nothing.  But Kara pressed on.  “Even if I was her, Miss Grant, **_especially_** if I was her... I would never willingly cause the kind of hurt I have seen inflicted on you today.”  Kara’s impassioned, impulsive speech ended when her phone beeped an alert.  She looked down to see Alex’s name and a text message ‘911’.  She looked up to meet Cat’s eyes.  “I have to go.”  
  
“Of course you do.”  Cat’s focus returned to her desk and began pulling things from drawers.  Kara turned to go.  “Kara?”  Kara stopped and turned her head, training sad eyes on equally broken ones.  She watched as Cat deflated like a balloon.  The anger at being lied to, triumph of catching her out, the high of once again pursuing a pivotal story; it all melted away when their eyes met.  What was left when Kara swallowed down the words of comfort that bubbled forth was loss and grief and fear of the unknown.  Cat cleared her throat and replaced that fear with that familiar regal dignity; a fallen queen no longer.  “When you return, I could use some help getting my things home… if you’re willing to endure me for another few hours?”  
  
Kara turned her head more fully and gave Cat a half smile.  “Of course, Miss Grant.”  And she was gone.

  


++++++++++++

  


When Kara had left, Cat put her head in her hands and finally allowed the day to wash over her.  She’d read this story, told this story a hundred times.  A powerful force of nature, brought to their knees by scandal and regret and secrets.  She despised secrets and yet held so many of her own.  Could she blame Kara for keeping hers?  No.  But in the quiet moments between the day’s battles, she could feel the girl slipping away, and in the midst of her fall, the idea that Kara would not be there to catch her before she lay broken by her own lies was almost as unbearable as the loss of her company.  She lifted her head.  Tears pooled in her eyes as she surveyed the world she had built.  She’d surrounded herself with glass to remind herself of the fragility of her position, of the transparency required to rule the world and to combat the dark, oppressive masculinity of the Daily Planet bullpen that had always triggered her claustrophobia.  Now that it was no longer hers, the office felt like a fishbowl.  She was exposed, humiliated, fallen… and she’d just pushed the only person who cared out the door.

  


++++++++++++

  


With Astra and Non handled for the time being, Kara flew slowly back towards CatCo.  The fight at Lord Tech had drained her physically, and her fruitless argument with her aunt had left her emotionally raw.  She could only hope that she could, somehow, be some help to Cat.  Kara knew Cat.  She knew that after some time to herself to process the afternoon and remove all traces of herself from her office life, Cat would be edgy and snappish.  The decision to land on the balcony as Supergirl, had nothing to do with Supergirl wanting to help Cat and everything to do with Kara not wanting to face Cat as herself after her impulsive rant earlier.  Cat was kinder, gentler with Supergirl.  She liked her, admired her a little.  Kara enjoyed the sparkle in Cat's eye, and the flutter in her heart when Supergirl came to visit.  And the way Cat's hair fluttered in the breeze during their high-rise tete-a-tetes made Kara's own heart flutter a bit too.

She touched down silently and stood in the open office doorway for a few moments watching Cat packing heavy-bottomed tumblers in thick paper before placing them carefully in a banker’s box.  The rest of the office had been cleared and packed.  Cat had clearly saved the bar for last.  A hefty amount of bourbon was in the one tumbler not being packed away and there was noticeably less bourbon in the decanter still sitting on the bar.  Kara always knew exactly how full that bottle was and if the her memory served, Cat had been indulging while she was away.  

“You should let your assistant do that.”  A risky opening gambit, she knew, mentioning herself, but she couldn’t help it.

Cat’s head sprang up, surprised by the intrusion, and her glassy eyes softened just a bit at the sight of Supergirl.  “I no longer have an assistant, or haven’t you heard?”

Kara crossed the room and leaned casually against the bar, something Kara would never dare to do.  “Yes… I… saw your press conference.  That’s why I came by.  I’m so sorry, Cat.  Is there anything I can do?”

Cat sighed.  “Not unless you can trace the hack, determine their motives and bring them to swift and righteous justice, no.”

Kara felt tears spring to her eyes.  More guilt that she was not able to stop the series of events that led to Cat’s fall.  She had no words, so she merely shook her head.

“Have a drink with me.  One last powwow on the balcony, Supergirl.  I don’t imagine I’ll be seeing much of you after this.  We’ll no longer have a working relationship.”

Kara crinkled her forehead.  “We never had a working relationship, Miss Grant.  I always liked to think of you as a friend.  Friends don’t just disappear when something bad happens. In fact, I find that’s usually when they’re needed most.”  Cat stared into her bourbon, shame coloring her cheeks a bit.  “Even if we don’t have this balcony, I can still come to you.”  She dipped her chin so she could meet Cat’s downcast eyes.  “Balcony, window, rooftop, through the front door if you like.”

Cat smiled.  “Alright, then.”  She turned back to the bar, unwrapped a packed tumbler and poured two fingers of her bourbon, handing the glass over as she walked past Kara and out to the balcony, Kara trailing behind much like she did as Cat’s loyal assistant.  They leaned together, elbows on the rail, clutching their drinks, gazing at the National City skyline.

The two spoke at once.

“Y’know, Cat---”

“I think I’ll miss---”  Cat smiled and sipped, her eyes twinkling.  “You first.”

“I was just going to say, I know that you think there isn’t any way forward after this, but, I promise, there’s so much more for you.  You could run the world if you wanted.  This is just going to be a tiny bump in the road, even if you feel like it’s all falling apart.”

Cat’s eyes soften, she looks away and sips at her bourbon.  “Thank you.  I think maybe I needed to hear that.”  She continued to gaze across the skyline for a few seconds.  “I’ll miss this,” she says quietly.  “I’ve… become accustomed to having you turn up here when one of us needed something.  I guess I… consider you a friend too.”

The smile that lit Supergirl’s face in that moment was more Kara Danvers than a thousand fumbles with her eyeglasses ever were.

On a mad impulse, Cat turned fully to Kara, set her glass upon the balustrade and with a delicate hand on a strong forearm, rose on tiptoes and placed a soft, affectionate kiss on Kara’s blushing cheek.  Cat’s nose brushed against her as she pulled away and Kara’s breath caught in her throat.  Cool, green eyes met excited blue ones and Kara stepped away, licking her lips.  

Somewhere far below them, a siren sounded.

“That’s your cue.” Cat smiled, giving the muscled arm under her hand a final squeeze.

“Good night, Miss Grant.  I’ll see you again soon.  I promise.”  She rose into the sky and gave Cat a wink before shooting into the sky and when she had disappeared from sight, Cat returned to tying up her loose ends.

An unexpected visitor surprised her just as she was finishing up some paperwork and placing the last of her favorite office supplies on top of an already full box. Her best Mont Blanc pen, her Donna Karan reading glasses, her Franklin Covey planner. She kept that up-to-date even with the advent of tablet technology. With a whimsical smirk, Cat added the wooden-handled ink-stamp which, when pressed on paper, left a small outline of a sleek cat sitting proudly atop her own signature.  It had been a Christmas gift from Kara. 

Cat remembered rolling her eyes and trying not to smile when she had opened it late on Christmas Eve, long after the giver herself had gone home and Cat had faced the holiday without Carter.  She’d never used it in an official capacity, but she had fun putting her little stamp on the occasional note to Carter’s school, cheeky memo to the board, or message to Kara.  She enjoyed the quiet blush that colored her assistant’s cheeks whenever she saw it.

For an overweight, bloated waste of space, Dirk Armstrong made surprisingly little noise as he approached Cat’s office and Cat started a bit when he spoke.

“We’re sorry to see you go, Cat.  It’s a shame we couldn’t trace this despicable invasion of your privacy before resorting to the worst-case scenario.”

Cat narrowed her eyes.  “I suppose you’ll be interim CEO until a suitable replacement can be found?”

Dirk pursed his lips at the veiled insult.  “The board thought it best, until we can settle on a more long-term solution.”

Cat nodded, biting back the diatribe sitting like fire on her tongue, saying instead.  “You’ll forgive me if I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Of course.  I didn’t come here to rub it in, Cat.  I just want you to know your company will be in good hands.  I promise.”

The lie was clear in his eyes and Cat knew in that moment, that she would make this man suffer for what he was doing.  It was only a matter of when and how.  “Good night, Dirk.  Try not to burn the place down before I get back.”  She took the stamp and inkpad from the top of her banker’s box and made a production of pressing the stamp into electric blue ink and rolling it across the top of her pristine white desk, branding it for her own.  She blew gently on the stain, drying it instantly and setting the ink permanently.  “To remember me by.” She gave him a close-lipped smile.

Dirk sneered.  “Good night, Cat.  I wish you all the best.”

The elevator dinged, signaling another visitor and Dirk strode across the bullpen, passing Kara on his way out.

  


+++++++++++++++++

  


Cat swallowed the lump in her throat as Kara approached her office.  She schooled her features, prepared to pretend she hadn’t looked into those very eyes and laid her lips on that soft cheek less than an hour ago.  “Well, you have had a busy night,” she quipped.

“I… had to help my sister.  She had a bad blind date.”

Cat nodded.  “Ah yes, we’ve all needed rescuing from one of those.”  She stood.  “Ready?”

Kara easily lifted the heavier of the two boxes containing Cat’s belongings.  She passed her fingers over the cat stamp now adorning the desk, unable to suppress her smile.  She brushed Cat’s shoulder gently as she passed.

Cat lifted the other box from where it rested on the sofa but as she reached the glass threshold she stopped and turned.  Tears stung her eyes.  She lifted her face to the ceiling, willing them down before turning from her kingdom and striding to the exit.

The car ride to Malibu was quiet.  Cat focused on the road and Kara kept herself busy tying up her own loose ends.  She had turned in her resignation with CatCo that afternoon.  The very sight of her desk after the press conference had left a nauseous feeling in her stomach she’d only experienced the day she had lost her powers.  Now she just had a final few emails to send directing any ‘Office of the CEO’ business to Dirk Armstrong.  He’d be inundated on his first day.  She wished she could be a fly on the wall.

Cat’s text tone broke the silence in the car.  Cat glanced at the phone mounted on her dash and the corners of her mouth turned up a bit in the ghost of a smile.

“Carter?”  Kara asked, trying not to be too nosy.

“Mm,” Cat confirmed.  “Safe and sound with his dad.”  There was a few moments of silence.  “He was angry with me for making him go today.  He insisted I needed him more, because I was sad.”  Cat smiled and Kara’s heart warmed.  “I’d feel guilty about his frequent hops from one end of the country to another if I didn’t know he secretly loves it.”

Kara smiled.  She adored hearing about Carter, but Cat kept most news of him to herself.

“He’s got dozens of those little pilot’s wings from his time spent in the cockpit.”  The pride in Cat’s voice was unmistakeable.  “He spends the car rides back from the airport telling me about everything he’s learned about lift and aerodynamics and flight technology.”

“We’ll make an aerospace engineer of him yet,” Kara turned off her iPad and shifted in her seat.  “You know, my sister went to Cal-Tech.  I’m sure I could hook him up with a junior internship or something if--”

“Shit.”  Cat cut her off as she approached the gates to her beach house on the narrow bluff road.  Kara spun in her seat to look.  Surrounding the iron gates emblazoned with “Grant’s Landing” the name of Cat’s seaside mansion, sat a half dozen media vans and a dozen reporters with microphones, cameras or voice recorders.  Cat slowed down a bit but the crowd began to surround the car and she sped up, passing her house and continuing up the road.  “Kara,” Cat glanced at the woman next to her with a plea in her eyes.  “Get me out of here.”

Kara set her jaw and directed Cat to the safest place she’s ever known.  “The Pacific Coast Highway,” she stated.  “North.  Just drive Cat.  Don’t worry.  You’re safe.”

  


+++++++++++++++

  


It was midnight when Kara pulled onto the gravel driveway leading to her own childhood home.

She shook Cat’s shoulder gently to wake her before getting out and coming around the car to help her out.  She tried valiantly to look away as Cat yawned and stretched.  “Where are we?”  Her voice was sleep-soaked and gruff and the sound of it made Kara a bit dizzy.

“Midvale,” she choked out.  She led Cat by the hand up the wooden porch steps and into the front door.  “Eliza?” she shouted through the house.

Eliza Danvers appeared at the top of the stairs tying a robe around her waist.  “Kara.”  She ran down the steps.  “What on earth are you doing here?”  When Eliza saw Cat, she gave Kara a long-suffering look.  The same look she’d given her every time Kara had brought home a stray animal, hoping to be able to keep it.

Kara recognized the look, but powered through the well-known annoyance.  “Cat Grant, this is my foster mother, Eliza Danvers.  Eliza, Cat Grant, my boss… well… former boss.”

It was awkward to shake hands while standing in a bathrobe, but Eliza gathered all of her grace.  “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Grant.  I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Well,” Cat said cheekily.  “Then allow me to extend my deepest apologies.”

Kara could only smile as Eliza’s familiar laugh filled the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Eliza care for Cat as she recovers.  
> Cat begins to learn that there may be a new life for her after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many and varied thank yous to the following for the close edits, thoughts, ideas, improvements and overall encouragement.   
> reginalovesemma, fictorium, rtarara, abcooper, abydosdork and spaceshipsarecool   
> I love you SinBin!

 

They put Cat in Alex’s old room with the overnight bag Kara had gathered from the penthouse that morning and a promise to call Cat’s personal shopper and figure a way to get all of her necessities to Midvale within the next day or so. 

What Kara didn’t tell Cat was that she would fly back to National City first thing in the morning and put together a proper suitcase, dopp kit and garment bag to make sure Cat would feel at home with Kara and Eliza until some of the hype died down.

What Cat didn’t tell Kara was that she already felt so safe and welcomed that she wasn’t sure she would ever want to return to the viper pit that National City had become over the last two days. She laid in bed and stared at a ceiling covered in tiny, glowing green stars, configured into constellations Cat had never seen before, even with all of the stargazing Carter had insisted upon in his early years. She suspected Alex had either made them up or someone had created them from a starscape only someone who had studied the stars from the terrain of another planet could describe. The latter had Cat’s heart racing.  

Kara Danvers was Supergirl.  She knew it and Kara knew she knew it and the two of them would dance the dance of the willingly ignorant in an effort to protect themselves and each other from the dangers that the truth presented.  A tale as old as time: eat from the tree of knowledge and live with the consequences of having your eyes opened.  As she contemplated the unfamiliar constellations above her, Cat’s eyes grew heavy and she gave herself over to the heartbreak and loss and the weight of her fall, only to land in the arms of an unexpected rescuer.  

And she slept.

 

++++++++++++++

 

As it turned out, Kara’s urgency to get to and from National City outside of Cat’s detection wasn’t a concern.  Aside from the slender hand peeking through the cracked door to wrap around the offered morning coffee, Cat Grant did not leave Alex’s room the entire day.

It was a blessing in disguise as Kara had spent her day in National City helping Alex get Hank safely returned to the DEO and begging Winn and James to start some covert investigating into Cat’s email hack.  It may be too little, too late, but Kara still suspected an inside job.  After a day of truth-telling with Astra, bombs, death and almost-battles, Kara was tired and sad and wrung-out.  For the first time, she was glad she didn’t have to finish out her day fetching layouts and calling editors.  That thought overwhelmed her with guilt and she pushed her speed, looking forward to a warm hug from Eliza, and a soft bed.  There’s no place like home.

She landed quietly in a copse of trees near the beach and walked back to the house, ravenously hungry and hauling thirty pounds worth of Cat Grant essentials.

The smell coming from the kitchen warmed Kara to her very toes.  She knocked on Cat’s door and was granted temporary access to the room to drop off her treasures.  Cat didn't speak and wouldn't look at her and Kara’s heart sank.  She left the room with a quiet, “You know where to find me.”  She began to reach for Cat, offer some physical comfort, but pulled away at the last second and sighed as she heard the snick of the lock behind her.

 

+++++++++++++++

 

Eliza studied the worry on Kara’s face as they picked their way through the german chocolate cake she'd whipped up that afternoon.  Eliza was on her first piece, Kara her third.

“Give her time, sweetie.  She’s been through a lot.  She can stay as long as she needs.”

Kara nodded.  “Her son is gone for two weeks.  He has year-round school and it’s his fall break.  She took another bite and talked around a mouthful.  “I'm sure she'll come around before then.  I guess I just… want to help.”

Eliza reached across the table and laid her hand on Kara’s forearm, stilling the fork that was halfway to her lips.  “You are helping her.” She gave the arm a squeeze, “You brought her here, helped her escape.  This isn’t all going to be solved in a day.  You’re giving her space, and time.”

“I hate space and time,” Kara pouted around another bite of cake.

“I know you do.”  Eliza stood, bestowed a loving kiss on the top of Kara’s head and made her way back to the kitchen.  “I’ll put together a plate for her and you can take her up a tray after you’ve finished the dishes.”

“‘Kay,” Kara responded, feeling like a child again in the circle of Eliza’s warmth.  “No cake though.  Cat hates coconut.”

Thirty minutes later, Kara stood outside Alex’s room holding a tray laden with Eliza’s rosemary chicken and steamed vegetables and a hot mug of chamomile tea.  She’d knocked and received no response.

“You have to eat, Cat.  I know you don’t want to talk, or come out yet, and that’s okay... but at least have some dinner.”

She stood outside the room, palm against the door, willing herself not to peek inside with x-ray vision, reminding herself that Cat had a lot to deal with and that she was accustomed to doing so in solitude.  But it did not quell the worry plaguing Kara’s mind or the ache that had settled in her heart over Cat’s vow of silence.

She left the tray outside the door and when she came back up for bed a few hours later, the tray and half-empty plate was tucked against the wall, the missing mug of tea presumably still inside the room.

Kara smiled and cleared the tray before turning in.

 

+++++++++++

 

The next morning Kara tapped gently on Cat’s door.  

“Miss Grant?  I’m heading into town to pick up a couple of things for Eliza.  Do you need anything?”  

She already had a few of Cat’s creature comforts on her list.  The raspberry flavored sparkling water she liked, a couple of bags of M&Ms, and a bottle of bourbon, one Kara knew she’d be able to afford but that Cat wouldn’t immediately write off as ‘swill’.

“I have coffee,” she tempted in cheerful singsong.

Just as it had yesterday, the door opened just far enough for Cat’s hand to sneak through the door and accept the coffee.  Unlike yesterday, Kara caught Cat’s eyes as the mug changed hands.  Red-rimmed and hollow, they telegraphed pain and fatigue.  Cat had been crying.  Crying and not sleeping.  Kara opened her mouth to offer some comfort, any comfort, but just as quickly as it had opened, the door shut and Kara stood facing it, wishing she had the courage to open it again.

“Space and time, space and time, space and time,”  she repeated as she tromped down the stairs to the foyer.  Eliza handed off her own list and looked up at Kara hopefully.

Kara simply shook her head, pulled the keys off the hook on the wall and let the porch door slam on her way out.  

 

+++++++++++++

 

Kara had been gone an hour when Eliza placed the bookmark in her book, grabbed the coffee carafe from the kitchen counter and a bottle from behind the peanut butter in the pantry and made her way up the stairs.

She knocked on the door to her daughter’s room.  “Miss Grant?”

There was no response, so she knocked harder.  “Miss Grant.  I know you’re a grown woman, and you are not one of my girls, but this is still my home and my daughter’s room. I can assure you I will treat you just like Alex if you are determined to act like a petulant teenager.”  She waited a few long moments.  “I also promise to make it worth your while.”

Still no response.  Eliza entered the room to find it empty.  A quick survey found Cat Grant, in satin pajamas and a jersey robe sitting outside the open window on the slightly sloped roof.  Her knees were tucked to her chest, arm wrapped around them, clutching a now-cool mug of Sumatra roast.

“I see you’ve found my daughters’ little sanctuary.”

Cat attempted a glare, but it didn’t carry any heat and when met with Eliza’s nonplussed expression it fell flat.  Eliza climbed out and maneuvered herself next to Cat, holding up the full coffeepot, still steaming with blessed heat.  Cat smiled and held out her cup.  The brown bottle Eliza held up next brought a twinkle of recognition into Cat’s eyes and the cup was held out again.  Eliza poured a generous dollop of Kahlua into Cat’s coffee and smiled back.  It was clear the woman had no intention of speaking, so Eliza continued. 

“The girls used to sit out here for hours and talk, or look at the stars.  They thought we didn’t know, but Jeremiah and I could hear them giggling through our bedroom window.”  Eliza looked down into her own cup.  “When he died… Alex shut down, and I was useless.  Kara was the only one she’d talk to, and this was the only place she’d-”

“Is there a point to all this sharing?”

Eliza sighed.  “Well, I see Kara didn’t exaggerate your impatience.”  She dropped another dollop of Kahlua into each of their coffees.  “Yes.  Actually.  My point is that I know a little bit about losing everything and not knowing which way is up.  So... talk,Cat Grant.  You can’t talk to your assistant, because you think you need to keep up the facade of the almighty CEO, but I’m a perfect stranger with a bottle of liquid therapy.  Talk.”

So Cat talked.  

She told Eliza her story, from the beginning.  Adam, CatCo, Carter, her mother.  The hack and losing her company and her sudden dependence on Kara.  She cried and balled up her fists and pounded them into the shingles.  Eliza allowed her to rage and fight, pour her fear and anger over the side of the house, just as her daughters had done so many times before; just as she had so many times after the girls had moved away and she was alone in a big, empty house.  The roof of this old home had heard all of their stories, and now it had heard Cat’s too.

Eliza shared Cat’s tears and when Cat finally stilled and settled herself into quiet again, arms wrapped around her knees, Eliza nudged her a bit with her shoulder, handed her back another full mug of liberally laced coffee and changed the subject.  “Kara tells me you raised a pretty great kid.”

Cat smiled.  “I had help, and that was after failing my first one so badly that I haven’t seen him in over twenty years.”

“The way I see it,” Eliza refilled her own cup.  “Just keeping them alive long enough for them to learn to dress themselves and make a passable grilled cheese deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor.”

Cat tapped her mug against Eliza’s.  “You must have had some special challenges with Kara.”

“How so?”

Cat shrugged.  “Pre-teen, lost her family, lost… her planet?”  Cat watched Eliza’s reaction carefully.  “She must have needed a lot of attention.”

Eliza set her cup aside.  “Kara told me about your suspicion.  I can assure you, Miss Grant, it simply isn’t true.  Kara’s parents died in a fire.  Kara very nearly didn’t make it out herself.  You’re right about some of her difficulties and we love her like our own, but Kara is as human as you or I.”

Cat propped her head on her hand, elbow on her bent knee and studied Eliza.  “You are a better liar than she is, I’ll give you that.”  Cat pointed across the yard to a small copse of trees that could just be seen around the corner of the house.  “Yesterday, when she was supposedly meeting someone to gather my things, I came out here to drink my coffee and listen to the ocean.  I saw my ex-assistant walk across the lawn into that little secret spot, and before I could count to two, Supergirl flew out of it.”

Eliza laughed until her stomach ached.  “I’m begging you not to tell her you saw that.  I don’t think I’ll be able to keep a straight face watching her try to explain it.”

Cat grew quiet.  “No, no we’re pretending I don’t know for the time being.  I… accused her of terrible things the other day when I confronted her with it.  We argued and she walked out.”  She drew in a deep breath.  “I need her by my side right now, until I figure out how to navigate this brave new world.  So, we pretend it was all a big misunderstanding and she brings me to the place in the world she always felt safe.”

Eliza’s heart melted at Cat’s admission and she fought back tears at the thought of her girl being so important to this strong woman who pretended not to need anyone.  At a loss for anything else, Eliza reached out and squeezed Cat’s shoulder and it was Cat’s turn to change the subject.

“At the risk of asking too much…” Cat was unaccustomed to hesitating, but her natural curiosity got the best of her.  “Kara’s ability to develop deep relationships with people is uncanny, and a little disturbing, but… she doesn’t call you ‘Mom’. In spite of the fact that she talks about this Alex of yours like she hung the moon, and the word ‘sister’ is second only in her vocabulary to ‘sorry’.”

A shadow crossed Eliza’s face.  “Kara didn’t have siblings on Krypton.  The closest she had was her cousin, and he was a baby when they were… sent away…  She did have a mother.  One she loved very much.  She did call me ‘Mom’ once, and I thought my heart would burst.”  Both women smiled.  “Then Alex yelled at her.  Said I was  _ her _ mom and Kara couldn’t have me when she already got everything.  Alex took some time warming up to Kara.  When she saw how hurt Kara was, she apologized and told her that of course I was her mom and she should say it as often as she wanted.”  Eliza shrugged.  “She never called me ‘Mom’ again.”

“I’m sorry, Eliza.”

“Since we’re navigating dangerous waters already...” Eliza hedged.

“Uh oh,” Cat chuckled and polished off her coffee.

“She’s very fond of you.”

Cat sobered.  “I know that.”

“She’s unaware how fond.”

“I know that too.”

“And?”  Eliza was afraid this conversation was happening too late.

“And I am doing my best to discourage and deflect.”

“But…”

Cat sighed helplessly.  “But she’s Kara.”

Eliza understood that statement profoundly.  “Yes, she is.”

“Is this the part where you threaten to bury me on your white sand beach if I hurt your daughter, Dr. Danvers?”

Eliza laughed, breaking the tension.  “No, Miss Grant.  Shovel talk duties in this family fall on Alex, and she has a full armory to back her up.”

Cat couldn’t help but pale slightly.  “I wouldn’t, you know.  She’s so young, and so… good.”

Eliza cleared her throat.  “What if I told you she wasn’t young?”  

Cat raised a single eyebrow and Eliza continued.  “It won’t change the fact that she is exactly as she seems and the math would make your brain bleed, but… given rotational, gravitational and orbital differences of our planets and the approximately twenty-four earth years she spent in stasis in a space abyss where time didn’t advance, we estimate Kara’s biological age at about… forty-eight.”

Cat’s jaw dropped open.

“She is twenty-five emotionally, mentally and in terms of life-experience.  And her Kryptonian DNA under our blazing yellow sun will likely slow her aging process even more, but Cat,” Eliza laid a hand on Cat’s shaking one, “the adage ‘age is just a number’ was never more true than in Kara’s case.  And she’s an alien from another planet.”  She was aware of the permission she was granting Cat in this moment and she did her best not to hesitate.  “If you aren’t interested, then you are right to keep her at arm’s length, but don’t let her youth be the reason you push her away.”

Cat remained speechless.

“As for Kara being good.  Nobody is perfect, Cat.  She has a wicked temper and can be insufferably arrogant.  That comes from being raised as nobility.  It's lessened over her years here, thankfully, but my God, if you had known her when she was thirteen.”  Eliza rolled her eyes.  “She’s impulsive and prone to grudges.”

Cat smiled.  “She sounds like me.”  

“Kara’s mother was a respected adjudicator and she inherited those instincts.  I’ve never met a better judge of character and she sings your praises from here to Krypton and back.”

Eliza polished off her coffee and gazed across the lawn where the ocean lay stretched out beyond.  “I won’t pretend I think it’s a good idea.  But god help anyone that tells her she can’t have something she wants.”

Cat sighed.  “I told you, I won’t-”  

Eliza held up her hand and stood.  “I know.  Let’s… find something else to do.”  She smiled warmly.  “You can help me catalogue mold spores.”

Cat stood too.  “No thanks, Doc.  I should find out what the world is saying about me.”

Eliza started gathering their mugs, carafe and bottle.  

“Here, let me help.”  Cat stood and took the pot and bottle.  “It’s time I came out and started pulling my weight around here.”

Eliza smiled and led the way down to the kitchen.

 

+++++++++++++++

 

Companionable silence had fallen over the house when Kara finally arrived home.

Eliza was pouring over ominous looking petri dishes at the kitchen table, squinting over the top of her reading glasses and making notes on an ancient laptop.

Cat was set up on a stool at the kitchen island, alternating on her tablet between devouring the latest news stories of her removal from CatCo and texting with Carter, who was still worried sick over his mother’s well-being during this turbulent time.

Kara banged through the back door with all the subtlety of a tornado and dropped half a dozen full canvas shopping bags on the hardwood floor causing Cat to jump and Eliza to glare.

“Kara Danvers, what on earth has gotten into you?  You know better than to come tearing into this house like a dog with its tail on fire!”

“Sorry!  It’s just, my hands were full so I… sort of… used my foot.  I didn’t mean to make so much noise.”

Eliza softened slightly.  “Get everything put away.  There’s stuff for sandwiches in the fridge for lunch if you’re hungry.  Then maybe you can show Cat the beach.”  

“Miss Grant!  You’re up! I mean out! I mean here!  I mean… Hi.” She exhaled heavily and smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkled charmingly.  “Feeling better?”

“Mmm,” Cat hummed noncommittally.  She was trying valiantly not to stare at a version of Kara Danvers she had never seen before.     
Kara wore a pair of ancient blue jeans, with holes in both knees and hint of wear around the front pockets.  Her tanned arms were exposed by a loose-fitting ribbed tanktop with a faded batman symbol splashed across magnificent breasts that had always been hidden by frumpy cardigan sweaters.  She’d seen Kara’s arms before, tastefully displayed under dresses straight from the American Girls doll collection, but never with hands tucked thoughtlessly into back pockets as she leaned against a counter, looking for all the world like she’d woken up in a frat house that morning.  Her normally perfectly coiffed hair was spun into two messy braided pigtails and Cat felt a phantom itch in her fingers, an almost unquenchable impulse to reach out and  _ tug _ .

She shoved her libido to the side in favor of offering to lend a hand.

“No. Sit,” Kara ordered rummaging around in a bag for something specific.  “This will only take a minute, then I have a great idea for the rest of the day.”  She triumphantly pulled two cans of sparkling water from somewhere in the depths of her sack and set about pouring them over ice and setting one before Cat and the other in front of a nearly oblivious Eliza.  “Did you eat?” She asked her foster mother quietly.

Eliza shook her head so Kara flounced to the fridge, whipping up three sandwiches so fast, Cat was convinced her super-speed was involved.  She gently closed the laptop.  “Eat.  The mold spores will still be there in ten minutes.”  She kissed Eliza on a pouting cheek and began placing items in various cupboards while she took bites of her lunch.

Cat watched the entire scene in fascination.  She knew her knowledge of Kara was minimal and that she was exceptional at caring for her at work, but watching her care for someone she actually loved was a revelation.  She was confident and sweet and just a little pushy.  And Cat found herself wishing she was more often on the receiving end of that care.

When the groceries were put away and Kara had polished off her sandwich and a hasty PB&J too, she disappeared out the back door.

Cat’s tablet gave a quiet chirp and she checked her texts.

_ Carter: Heading to a movie and turning off my phone.  Talk to you tonight.  Love you Mom! _

She texted a quick ‘ _ Have fun! Love you! _ ’ and ran upstairs to plug her tablet into the charger, pull on her favorite True Religions and an off-the-shoulder cashmere sweater, and slipped her phone into the wallet case she kept handy so she wouldn’t have to carry a purse.  The thought of a walk on the beach with Kara made her heart stutter a bit.  She smiled secretly to herself and headed back downstairs.  Just as she hit the bottom step a projectile flew directly at her head.

“Think fast!”  Kara’s giggle filled the room as Cat caught the object just before it beaned her in the temple.  She looked in her hands to find a bicycle helmet.

“What the hell?”

Kara bounced on her toes.  “There’s a beachside art fair in Midvale.  We’ll take the trail into town and walk to the beach from the bookstore.”

“On a bike?  Kiera, the last time I was on a bicycle that actually moved, was in my post-collegiate European rebellion.  My bikes are firmly mounted to the gym floor, thank you.”  Without realizing, she had followed Kara from the house during her snooty rant and in the warmth of the fall California sun shone an electric blue, state-of-the-art, bicycle built for two.  Cat’s glared at it.  She shoved the helmet back into Kara’s arms.  “No,” she said firmly and turned on her heel back towards the house.

Kara grabbed her by the wrist and drew her to her side, looping her arm through Cat’s elbow and speaking hasty words at the side of her head while walking them back to the bike.  “C’mon, Cat.  It’ll be fun.  Alex and I used to ride it all the time, it’s perfectly safe.  You need to get out of this house and out of your comfort zone.  You can’t sit inside and read your own news stories all day, you’ll drive yourself crazy.”  She stopped at the bike and placed the bike helmet on Cat’s head, taking care to snap the strap gently under her chin.  Cat’s breath caught a bit at Kara’s warm smile.  “Come on an adventure with me.  I’ll buy you a hand-beaded necklace you’ll never wear and you can complain about the hipster artists who aren’t even good enough for Etsy.”  Cat eyed the bicycle warily.  “I’ll do most of the work,” Kara tempted.

Cat rolled her eyes.  “Fine.  But if I’m bleeding at the end of today, I’ll make your life hell, Kiera.”

Kara snapped her own bike helmet under her chin.  “One more thing.”  There was a forcefulness in her voice Cat didn’t recognize.  “My name is  _ Kara _ .  If you stay in my house, you’ll use my name.”  She smiled sweetly but the intent was clear.  She was no longer Kara’s boss and the dynamic had forever shifted.  Cat suspected this was the alleged nobility seeping through Kara’s carefully built meek exterior.  And, oh, it was incredibly attractive.

“Very well,” Cat agreed.  “How do I mount this contraption,  _ Kara _ .”

Kara grinned and held the bike steady.  “You sit on back.  I’ll steer.  All you have to do is pedal.”

Cat swung her leg over and waited for Kara to do the same.  Before she knew it, they were sailing down the driveway and onto the road leading into town.  They veered onto a trail that ran alongside the beach and Cat became entranced as the long stretch of sea flew past her view.  After a few minutes she gasped and pointed.  “Kara!” she yelled.  “Dolphins!”  Kara glanced over to see the playful pod of dolphins following a shrimp boat up the coast.  The bike veered dangerously and Cat screeched.  “Dammit!  Careful!”  

Kara stopped the bike and looked back at Cat.  “Sorry!  You okay?”  Cat only nodded and kept her eyes on the dolphins breaching and jumping.  

“They’re beautiful”

“They live here,” Kara explained.  “Sometimes I go out and visit them.”  She caught her mistake and backpedaled.  “I mean, sometimes when we’re surfing, they’ll come right up to the surfboards.”  It was mostly true.  They did come up to Alex’s surfboard.  They visited Kara too, she just… didn’t need a board.  “Jeremiah alway said if there are dolphins around, there won’t be any sharks, so I always felt safe surfing here.”

“You’re afraid of sharks?” Cat asked, a bit of confusion seeping into her voice.

“Deathly,” Kara said simply.  “Let’s go!”  She put her feet back on the pedals and Cat followed suit.  

After a mile or so, Kara shouted back, “There’s a bit of a hill coming up.  Pedal hard, okay?”

A wicked thought crossed Cat’s mind and as she saw the ribbon of blacktop trail wind up and away from the beach, she quietly removed her feet from the pedals and balanced them on the bar behind Kara.  She held onto her handlebars and watched as Kara pedaled the two of them effortlessly up the hill.  She enjoyed the play of muscles beneath the tanktop and the shift of Kara’s backside as her legs pumped the tandem bike up, up, up the hill.  She hadn’t even broken a sweat and Cat couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from her throat.  Kara risked a glance back at her.

“Cat!  Pedal!”

“Oh, I think you’re doing just fine on your own, Supergirl.” Cat grinned wickedly.

Kara scowled.  “I’m not Supergirl.”  

Kara continued to pedal and Cat could feel her anger pouring over her from the front of the bike.  Cat remained quiet and eventually lowered her feet back to the pedals and put in a bit of effort.  The hill was steep, but short and at the top lay a beautiful little beach town.  Cat was charmed immediately.

Kara brought the bike to a stop in front of a quaint, touristy bookstore and coffee shop.  She locked it up, bought Cat a hot, double shot latte and some kind of sugar shock espresso smoothie for herself and led her to the back of the store by the hand, all without saying a word to Cat.

Cat squeezed the strong hand wrapped in her own just as they were making their way down a series of wooden steps to the beach where flapping, white tents lined the beach.  “Kara.  I’m sorry.  It was a joke.”

“It wasn’t funny.”

“I know.  I’m sorry.”

Kara smiled sadly.  Cat could see the lie clearly in her eyes and she tried not to be angered by it.  “Forget it.”

“Show me your little art show.”

Kara’s excitement returned and she led the way from booth to booth, exclaiming at the hand-crafted pottery, woven rugs, intricately crocheted scarves, paintings, drawings, sculptures and hand-blown glass unlike anything Cat had ever seen.  She was truly impressed and Kara’s eye was refined and impeccable.  She did buy Cat a beaded necklace, but she was wrong about one thing.  She knew the second she felt the stones on her sternum that she would absolutely wear it again.  Cat ran her fingers over the tasteful glass stones laid in some kind of pinkish rose-gold brushed metal.  It wasn’t Harry Winston but it was beautiful and unique and, when paired with the shine in Kara’s eyes as she laid it across her neck, Cat could see it quickly becoming one of her favorites.

As they made their way back towards the bookstore, Cat stopped her at a small booth they had skipped over the first time.  She perused the paintings, unfamiliar mountains and hills backed by blazing red sunsets, a few of a striking woman holding a surfboard, gazing over an oceanic horizon, a series of cityscapes that appeared to be from a bird’s-eye-view of National City and one that Cat couldn’t take her eyes from.  A small painting.  A silhouette of a woman, from behind, from afar, a woman standing on a balcony, gazing over an unfamiliar city.  

“They’re beautiful,” Cat smiled at the young woman sitting in the tent.

“I wish I could claim the work,” the girl said, stealing a glance at Kara.  “The artist prefers to remain anonymous.  I just sell them.”

“Why would someone so talented want to stay a secret?” she wondered aloud.

“Miss Grant, we should get back to the house before it gets dark.”

Cat turned and followed Kara back to the bookstore.  As she unchained the bike, Cat couldn’t keep her curiosity at bay.  “You seemed in a hurry to get me away from those paintings.  Why?”

Kara swallowed.  “Because they’re mine,” she admitted quietly and got on the bike.

“And that last one?”  Cat stood at the bike’s handlebars and met Kara’s eyes.

“That’s… you.”  Kara looked down and fiddled with the gear shift on the bike until a hand under her chin brought her eyes back up.

“Thank you,” Cat breathed and placed a sweet kiss on Kara’s cheek.  “Take me home.”  Cat put on her helmet and got on the bike.

Kara grinned wickedly.  “Hold on.  Going down is a lot more fun than going up.”

A spike of fear flew through Cat.  “Kara.  Not too fast.  Kara.  Kara!”

But they were flying down the hill, wind in their faces and hands white-knuckled on the handlebars.  Cat heard screaming in the back of her head and it only took a second for her to realize the screaming was her.  Twenty yards from the bottom of the hill, the front tire of the bike hit a tiny pebble on the trail.  The bike wobbled, then skidded, then flew off the trail towards the beach below, taking Cat with it.  Kara flew from the bike, watching as it plummeted down the sandy dune and shot after it.  She swept Cat from the seat with one hand and lifted the bike with the other, setting them both back on the trail in a matter of seconds.  Her head whipped around, making sure nobody else saw the daring rescue before looking back at Cat.  The woman was clutching her stomach and scowling.  

“I guess this means we’re not pretending anymore?”  

“Pretending?  Pretending what?”

“Pretending this, Supergirl.”  She gestured between them.  “Pretending you aren’t special, pretending I don’t know, pretending you haven’t been lying to my face!”  She was shouting now into the twilight.

Kara’s temper alighted and her eyes flashed.  “You mean pretending that you could just ignore the story of the century the second I confirmed it?”

Silence fell, broken only by the crash of waves below the dune and the cry of seagulls overhead.  Kara flushed, her anger draining away, replaced by shame and fear.

“Miss Grant, please don’t be angry, I...”

“You, get angry at me for accusing you of being Supergirl and when you reveal yourself to be  _ exactly _ who I thought, you have the  _ audacity _ to tell me not to be angry?”

“No, I didn’t have a choice.  You weren’t ever supposed to know.”

“Just get me back.  I’ll find a way back to National City in the morning.  You took me away from that city full of liars and brought me here.  Made me feel safe and cared for and-”

“You are safe here!” Kara defended.  “And I will take care of you, I promise-”

“-and lied to me just like everyone else.”  Cat picked up the bike and set it back on the trail.  “Get me back to the house, Kara.  We’re done here.”

When they arrived back at the house, Cat disappeared back into Alex’s room and Kara stood outside the door for a full five minutes, holding back her tears.

 

+++++++++++++++

 

Kara sat on the beach watching her pod of dolphins playing in the dark.

The presence beside her drew her from her reverie and she turned her head to see Cat sitting down next to her gingerly, clutching her phone in one hand.

She wracked her brain for something, anything she could say that would convince Cat to forgive her.  She opened her mouth to speak, but when nothing came out, her eyes filled with tears and she turned back to the ocean, as if the answers she sought lived in the shadowed breaks of the waves.

It was Cat who spoke first.  “I have to go back to National City in the morning.”

Kara swallowed and nodded.  “Miss Grant, please don’t go.  I’m sorry I lied.  You have to understand there’s so many-”

“I forgive you.”

Kara drew in a sharp breath.  “Y-you do?”

“If you’ll forgive me.”

Kara nodded vigorously and pressed her lips together, not trusting her voice.

“But,” Cat continued.  “I do still have to go back to National City tomorrow.”

Kara dropped her head.  “Right.  I guess we couldn’t stay here forever.”

Cat shook her head.  “I had two very interesting telephone conversations while you were down here pouting.”  She couldn’t help the small upturn of her lips at Kara’s adorable scowl.  “Would you believe that while we perused Etsy rejects on the beach,” Kara chuckled quietly, “I missed a phone call from the President?”

Confused, Kara turned to her.  “What President?”

Cat rolled her eyes.  “Of the United States, you idiot.” She bumped Kara’s shoulder affectionately.

Kara’s eyes lit up in surprise.  “Olivia called you?  If it’s about the exclusive on her alien rights legislation, I still think she’ll give you the interview, even after the takeover.  I told her I wouldn’t trust that story in anyone else’s hands and she needs all the support she can get.  You should-”

“Kara!”

“What?”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

“You call the President of the United States by her first name?  What the hell, Kara?”

“I met her when I was a kid.  She, uh, worked with my foster dad.  She wasn’t President then.”

“No, shit.”  Cat pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Anyway.  She is on the west coast and asked for a meeting tomorrow.  You’ll forgive me if I didn’t consult my assistant.  I assume my schedule is open?”

Kara smiled.  “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.

Silence fell over the pair.  “What was the other phone call?” Kara asked quietly after a couple of minutes.

“Oh,” Cat turned a bit on the sand so she was facing Kara.  “James Olson called me to inform me that they found the source of the CatCo hack and that Dirk Armstrong was hauled from my building in handcuffs tonight.”  She spread her arms dramatically.  “I have been redeemed.”

It was all Kara could do not to tackle Cat to the sand.  “Miss Grant that’s fantastic!  You can go back to work!  I can see the headlines!  ‘Cat Grant’s Triumphant Return!’” She framed the words in the air with her hands.  She wrapped her arms around her knees to keep herself from throwing them around Cat’s neck and making a fool of herself.

“Oh, Kara it’s far too late for that and if I were honest, I can’t even be sure I want it anymore.” She sighed at Kara’s confused frown.  “Adam is safe now and my story will get told.  And I am eternally grateful for that.  Maybe it’s time I found my next adventure.”  

“But, CatCo is  _ yours _ , Cat, you can’t just-”

Cat held up her hand, stopping Kara’s protests.  “It seems someone asked a few loyal employees to investigate from within on a hunch.  The hunch turned out to be right.”  She watched Kara blush.  “Always taking care of me, Kara.  Even when I don’t ask for it.”  She paused.  “Even when I don’t deserve it.”

Kara’s heart was racing.  “You deserve the entire world, Miss Grant.”  She looked away, unwilling to watch Cat’s reaction to such an emotionally charged admission.

Instead of speaking, Cat laid her head on Kara’s shoulder and watched the encroaching tide as each wave brought it closer.  

Kara did her best to breathe evenly as her senses were filled with the scent of Cat’s shampoo, the softness of her cornsilk hair as it brushed her neck and the slightly elevated beat of her heart.

 

+++++++++++++++++

 

Kara flew Cat back to National City for her meeting with President Olivia Marsdin in the morning with a promise she’ll have her town car safely back in it’s underground parking spot before she’d made it through her first mimosa.

When she arrived back in the city, she donned her supersuit and made her presence known at a few simple rescues.  Supergirl’s almost three-day absence had started to become suspicious and it felt good to help her citizens again.  She checked in at the DEO, delivered Eliza’s double batch of lemon cupcakes to Alex, who ate two in less than a minute and returned to the deserted restaurant where Cat Grant was having an intense, private discussion with the leader of the free world.  She stayed outside and stood guard with the Secret Service until the women emerged.  

The President drew Kara into a hug and whispered into her ear.  “It’s good to see you again, Kara.”

Kara smiled and gave Olivia’s hands an affectionate squeeze.  “You too, Madam President,” she said with a cheeky wink.  “I’ll make a point to come visit a little more often, I promise.”

The President stole a glance at Cat before returning her focus to Kara.  “Oh, I imagine we’ll be seeing much more of each other soon, dear.”  She nodded towards Cat.  “Take care of this one?”

Kara softened.  “Always,” she promised.

The President turned and gave a sharp nod to her agents who sprang into action.  They bundled her into her motorcade and they were gone.

“Come inside, Kara.  I have something to ask you.”

Kara got her cape stuck in the restaurant’s revolving door, much to Cat’s amusement, but once they were sitting at the table, Kara munching on a leftover sticky bun and Cat pouring her third cup of coffee, she relaxed.

“You had something to ask me, Miss Grant?”

Cat swallowed a too-hot mouthful of coffee and coughed delicately.  “D o you remember when I said you’d always have a job with me if you wanted it?”

Kara nodded.  “Of course,” she said around a mouthful of food.

“The President just offered me a position on her staff.”

Kara’s eyes grew impossibly wide.  She managed to keep her food in her mouth.  She swallowed heavily.  “The President wants to give you a job?”

Cat nodded.  The air between them grew heavy.  Kara was sure that the next few minutes would alter the course of her life forever.  She couldn’t help but feel the importance of the next words that came from Cat’s lips.

“White House Press Secretary.”

Kara choked on her sticky bun and dropped her fork loudly on her plate, grabbing for water and regaining control of her faculties.  She couldn’t speak.  She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times in a useless attempt to find words.

Cat filled in the gap for her.  “It makes sense, logistically.  Carter’s father already lives in D.C.  I can’t deny the appeal of not sending my son three thousand miles away every few weeks.  He already has a built-in support system there.”  She paused and looked out the window at the busy street beyond.  “I have nothing tying me to National City anymore.  If I stay, everyday will be a battle to regain CatCo, or to find another place in this city, or to try to forget this ever happened.”  She sighed.  “That just sounds… exhausting.”  

Kara nodded and poked at the remains of her breakfast with her fork.  A couple of quiet minutes went by and Kara studied Cat in silence.  Then, a slow, small smile softened Cat’s features and their eyes met.  “This is it, Kara.  This is my next adventure.”

Kara continued to search for words, but none came, so Cat continued.

“If I accept, I’d like you by my side.”  Cat reached her hand across the table and laid it over Kara’s.  

Kara’s entire arm erupted in goosebumps.  Her head spun.

“As,” she started but the words caught in her throat.  “As your assistant?”

Cat’s eyes softened and she appeared to lose a bit of her normal bravado.  It took her a few extra seconds to answer and Kara read the truth in her eyes even as she felt Cat’s thumb draw a gentle line across her knuckles.  “In whatever capacity you’d like.”

Kara pressed her lips together.  Her heart felt heavy, her head swam, her stomach turned unpleasantly.  Kara had never been able to deny Cat anything and she was truly unsure in that moment if she would be able to find it in herself to deny her this.  “M-move away from National City?  Move to Washington D.C.?”

Cat gave a single nod.  “Come with me, Kara,” she begged quietly, giving Kara’s hand a squeeze and searching her eyes, the hint of desperation breaking Kara’s heart into a million pieces.

“Cat I…” A single tear slipped down her cheek.  “I  _ can’t. _ ”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Choices are made. Risks are taken. Lives are changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to reginalovesemma and spaceshipsarecool for last minute edits and rtarara and xxtorchxx for first reads, thoughts and tweaks.  
> I am forever grateful for you eyes and support.
> 
> I have such love for this little tale. I hope you enjoy its end.

 

“Washington D.C.?”  Alex popped a beer and flopped next to Kara on the couch.  “Cat Grant’s gonna be the White House Press Secretary?  Is Olivia sure the Oval Office’s closets are big enough to hide all those skeletons?”

“Okay, first of all, shut up.  Miss Grant doesn’t have that many skeletons.”

Alex raised one eyebrow and took a long pull on her beer.

“Okay, maybe a few, but the recent invasion of her privacy,” these words were said through gritted teeth, “took care of any secrets Miss Grant may or may not be harboring.”  Kara stood, ready to pace the floor, but instead dug a pair of mismatched chopsticks from her silverware drawer, their mates having fallen victim to one of Kara’s less graceful moments, and pulled a box of leftover lo mein from her refrigerator.

“And second,” she said around a mouthful of noodles, “who better than the Queen of All Media to tell the President’s story.”  Kara shrugged.  “It seems like a good fit.  I just wish…”  She trailed off and took another bite.

“You wish?” Alex prompted.

Kara didn’t answer right away.  There was a line she never crossed with Alex when it came to Cat.  She knew it wasn’t fair to keep things from her sister and she knew that whatever Alex’s response would be it would come from a place of love.  But, she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear that Cat was the villain of her own story and that Kara’s affections were wasted on someone like her, no matter how true it may be.  Once in awhile, Kara wanted to hear that something she wanted, something she dreamed of, was just the right thing for her.  Alex would never understand this.  She would never understand that this beautiful, prickly, terrifying woman whom Kara had cursed and cried over and insisted was a monster in designer clothes had completely stolen her heart.

“I wish I could go,” Kara said simply, tossing the nearly empty box on the coffee table.  She flopped back on the couch and pulled an ancient, faded knit throw across her knees and began flipping through channels on the TV.

“Go?  Go where?”

“She asked me to go with her,” Kara mumbled, seemingly engrossed in a generic sitcom about a pair of roommates in a too-small, too-expensive apartment in a too-large city.

Alex snatched the remote and silenced the TV, but Kara kept watching the pair onscreen fight over a turkey baster.  “She what?”

Kara sighed and finally looked at her sister, trying desperately to keep her racing heart in check.  “Miss Grant asked me to come to Washington D.C. with her.”

“What, like to help her move?”

“What? No.  Alex, you can’t really be this obtuse.  She wants me to move to Washington D.C. with her.  To be her assistant,” Kara added quickly, not yet ready to examine the fact that that wasn’t entirely true.

Alex’s spit take sprayed beer all over Kara’s favorite blanket.

“Gross.” Kara wrinkled her nose and pulled the blanket off her lap.  “Classy, Alex.”

“What did you tell her?”

Kara tried to hide her disappointment, the hurt, indecision and uncertainty that had invaded her thoughts since that morning.  “I told her no, of course.  I told her I can’t.”

Alex chuckled and sipped her beer.  “I’m sure she took that well.”

Kara swallowed the lump in her throat.  “No,” she thought back to the scene in the empty restaurant that morning.  “No, she didn’t.”

 

++++++++

 

_ “ _ _ What do you mean, you  _ can’t.   _ Of course you can.  You’re a grown woman, Kara.  You can do anything you want.” _

_ Kara shook her head.  “No, Miss Grant.  I can’t.  I can’t just uproot my life and move to a new city.”  Kara quieted and fidgeted with her hands beneath the starched, white tablecloth. _

_ She registered the surprise on Cat’s face and knew the anger over the perceived rejection would soon follow.  Kara braced for impact and hoped she would at least be given the chance to explain. _

_ “Can’t?” Cat narrowed her eyes, leaning forwards in an effort to catch Kara’s eyes.  “Or won’t?” _

_ Kara couldn’t stop her gasp at the unexpected question and she studied Cat for signs of what she was feeling.  She saw embarrassment, humiliation in Cat’s disappointed frown.  It had taken a lot of her emotional equity to ask that question.  It had tipped Cat’s hand in a way neither of them could have predicted.  Cat wanted her close, wanted her presence, even after everything that happened.  After she had lost everything, she was afraid to lose Kara and the knowledge of that, seeing the fear and sadness shining in Cat’s eyes, almost changed her mind.  Cat was reaching for her, across a distance neither of them ever dreamed would be breached, and Kara hadn’t reached back.  Guilt filled her.  On impulse, Kara stood and came around the table.  Cat stood instinctively and found herself looking up into intense, blue eyes. _

_ Kara gently placed her hands under Cat’s jaw, forcing her to see the truth as she spoke.  “Cat, I think you know that I  _ would _ follow you to to the ends of the earth  _ and beyond, _ if I  _ could _ … but I  _ can’t. _ ”  The tears were back and she pressed her lips together to hold in the sob she felt rise in her throat.  Her thumbs stroked Cat’s cheeks.  “I’m sorry.” _

_ Cat stepped out of Kara’s gentle hold.  “Yes, well.  It was worth a shot.  You’ll be difficult to replace… as my assistant, of course.  I believe you’d do well there.  Enjoy your safe life in National City, Kara.  Heaven forbid you take an actual risk in your sheltered, bulletproof life.” _

_ Kara would recognize Cat Grant erecting her protective walls anywhere, the lashing out followed by a swift withdrawal. _

_ “Cat, please.  I’ll come visit.  I’ll help you however I can.  I wish I could come, I just…” _

_ “Can’t,” Cat finished for her.  “So, you’ve said.”  Cat waved her hand and turned to gather her handbag, already checking her phone.  “We’re done here.”  She stalked to the door and Kara put on a tiny burst of superspeed to stop her before she could leave.   _

_ “No, we’re not.  At least let me explain.”  _

_ “Explain what?  I offer you a job at the White House and you won’t even consider it.  There is no explanation for that, Kara.”  _

_ Kara stepped forward and reached for Cat again. Cat stepped back, placing her oversized sunglasses on her face.  Kara squeezed her hand into a fist.  Her heart was in her throat and the word ‘yes’ was on the tip of her tongue.  ‘Yes’ to the move to D.C.  ‘Yes’ to everything Cat was offering her.  ‘Yes’ to bravery and risks and a new start.  But it wasn’t about Kara.  National City needed Supergirl. _

_ She opened her mouth to respond when her phone rang. _

_ Cat looked at her with just a touch of resigned sorrow. _

_ “Go, Supergirl,” she insisted, stepping around Kara and out of the restaurant. _

 

++++++++++++++++

 

Kara sighed and leaned against Alex’s side.  “You called and Astra found yet another way to mess up my life and now Cat will move away and who knows if she’ll even say goodbye.”

Alex put a comforting arm around her and sipped her beer.  “Can I ask you something, sis?”

Kara shrugged.  “‘Course.”

“Why not?”

“Why not what?”

Alex sighed.  “Why not go?  You said you wish you could, so why not?”

Kara sat up.  Of all of the reactions Kara believed Alex would have, this was the last.  They had never lived more than a few hours from each other.  It had always been that way, Kara followed Alex to National City for school, stayed there to get a job while Alex finished her Masters, then her PhD, then a Doctorate.  Kara had assumed the two of them would be near each other always.  Alex suggesting that Kara live across the country, in the middle of a war with her family, after insisting she hide herself away, insisting she be under Alex’s careful protection, insisting she stay close.  It almost made Kara… angry.  She looked at her sister, eyes flashing with just a hint of fury.

“What do you mean, why not?  I would think that would be obvious.”

Alex ignored the indignation she saw rising in Kara and responded nonchalantly.  “You can Supergirl anywhere in the world, why not in close proximity to Olivia… and Cat?”

Kara stood and began to pace, anger giving way to irritation and an unexpected anxiety.  “I can’t just leave you, or Eliza, or my friends.  I certainly can’t just take off to start a new, exciting life on the other side of the country with Astra and Non hell-bent on destroying my city and-”

“New, and  _ exciting _ life, Kara?” Alex interrupted.  

Kara blushed and grabbed her lo mein again.  “I just meant I have a life here… roots, y’know?”

“And, I would hate to have you leave, but, Kara, people your age, people with  _ roots, _ move and start over in new cities all the time.  You could too, Supergirl or no.”

The look of confusion that crossed Kara’s face nearly made Alex laugh out loud.  

“Did you know there is a DEO branch in D.C.?” Alex watched Kara’s features change from confusion to surprise.  Alex nodded in confirmation.  “Yep.  I was almost transferred there when Olivia got elected.  They wanted me to run her Secret Service detail.  But Hank insisted I stay here.”

Kara had abandoned her chopsticks in the lo mein box and stared at Alex, speechless.

“If Cat Lady didn’t need you to fetch lattes and fend off nagging journalists, you could probably get a job on Olivia’s detail.”  She laughed.  “I mean, who better to protect the president than a bulletproof woman.”  Alex polished off her beer and hopped up to get another.

Kara was incredulous.  “Wha?  Alex, I can’t even… What do you want me to do with this information?”

Alex shrugged and twisted the cap off a new beer, taking a long pull.  “I just think maybe you should think about it a little.”

Kara closed her eyes and shook her head.  This was too much to take in at the moment.  Her mind was made up.  She’d made her decision.  She couldn’t just  _ leave _ .  She pressed her roiling emotions down before her anger and indecision could take over.  “Can we just watch something happy and brainless, please?  I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

Alex watched her sister warily.  She knew what Kara looked like when she wanted something she thought she couldn’t have.  And Cat Grant had brought that look out of her sister more often than she cared to admit.  It was time to let Kara fly on her own.  But first she’d have to push her out of the nest.

 

+++++++++++++

 

A week went by and Kara didn’t hear from Cat.  She inhaled every news story about the takeover and Cat Grant she could get a hold of.  Cat did eventually give an interview.  She went on Ellen to comment on the situation with Dirk and explain that, in spite of the door opening for her to return to CatCo, she had made some contacts and had some new irons in the fire.  

“And while I’m not saying I’ll never return to my place at CatCo, a few days away from National City reminded me that there is a very big, beautiful, exciting world outside of my high-rise office and that maybe it’s time I dusted off my sense of adventure a bit.”

Kara couldn’t help but smile at the TV.  Cat looked radiant.  Relaxed and happy and glowing with an excitement Kara had only ever witnessed once, the day Supergirl revealed herself.  There was a spark of mischief in her eye that made Kara want to reach through the television screen just to be closer to that energy.

Cat had been spotted around town with a handsome, young man, later revealed to be Cat’s estranged son, Adam.  She never commented on his presence, despite being hounded by paparazzi to do so.  After a few days, Adam disappeared, presumably to go back to wherever it was he lived, Opal City, if Kara’s memory served.

It was the one and only time Kara reached out to Cat after that awful morning in the empty restaurant.  She sent a text over her Sunday morning pancakes when a morning talking heads show revealed photos of them dodging cameras coming out of Spago.

_ ‘I’m really glad you reached out to Adam.’ _ she texted.

Cat never responded.

Eventually, the news died down.  A Broadway star who had recently rocketed to fame on the back of an insanely popular action movie abruptly announced her relationship with her female co-star and Cat Grant became old news.

And still Kara didn’t hear from Cat.

Until she did.  A single text message sent a shot of fear through Kara so deep she created a sonic boom flying to Cat’s penthouse.

Three words:   _ ‘Carter ran away.’ _

Kara landed on Cat’s living room balcony within seconds of having left her own window.  She took in Cat’s red-rimmed eyes and her fingers twisting together and the feeling of longing to reach out was deep and immediate.  “What happened?”  She asked breathlessly.

Cat swallowed.  “I went to get him at the airport this morning.  He chatted the whole way home about all of the great things he saw and did in D.C.  He loves Robert’s new husband and they have a lot of fun.  I… thought it was a good time to break the news.  So, I told him.  That I was taking a new job and that we’d be moving.”  Kara could see the sadness fill Cat’s eyes.  “I thought he’d be happy.  I was so sure.  He’d be closer to his father.  No more cross-country flights, no more dual cities and schedules and sharing.  I thought he’d feel like we might be a closer family.  I might finally have more time for him.”  She sighed.  “There are so many upsides, Kara.  But I was wrong.”

Kara dared to take Cat by the hands and draw her to the sofa, sitting her down gently.  “Cat, what happened?” she asked again, squeezing the hands gently this time.

“He… lost it.  Carter is very even tempered.  He doesn’t yell and he doesn’t cry.  He represses,” she chuckled mirthlessly, “like me, I suppose.”  She continued.  “But he paced and yelled.  He threw out a million reasons why we can’t go, how I’m ruining his life and how I only care about myself.”  Cat’s eyes filled with tears.  “He screamed that he isn’t going and that he hates me and he ran out the door.  I went after him but the elevator door closed and…” She gave herself up to her tears and buried her face in her hands.”

Without hesitation, Kara reached out again.  Cat didn’t need Kara Danvers today.  Today, she needed Supergirl.  She placed a strong, confident hand on Cat’s bowed back.  “I’ll find him, Cat, I promise.”

Weepy, terrified eyes were turned on Kara.  Cat didn’t speak.  She could only nod and before she could blink, Kara was out the window.

 

++++++++++++

 

She hadn’t wanted to call Kara.  She was trying to be strong.  She was severing her dependence on the girl, learning to do things on her own, learning how to be Cat again.

She’d been humiliated when she asked Kara to come to D.C. with her and had been so hastily rejected.  She’d replayed that conversation a hundred, no, a thousand times in her head.  ‘ _ In whatever capacity you like _ ,’ she had said.  It had given her away.  She wanted Kara with her, job or no job, with or without Supergirl.  She had pushed too hard, wanted too much, and Kara had backed away.  Of course she had.

So, Cat had backed away too.  She made her plans, prepared for her new life, a life without CatCo, without National City, without Kara.  She had reached out to her son, apologies were made and while fences may never be truly mended, a tentative bridge had been built between them.  She’d done all of this without Kara and her confidence had begun to return.

But when Carter disappeared, had screamed hateful things at her and ran from their home, her confidence crumbled and her fear overwhelmed her.

Her first thought had been Kara.  If anyone could find her son, Supergirl could.  She hadn’t even hesitated.  And now all she could do was wait, hope that Carter would come home on his own, or that Kara would find him before the terrors of National City did.

 

+++++++++++++++++++

 

Kara Danvers knew more about Carter Grant than she let on.  Years of filling Christmas wish lists and ensuring he was deposited safely in places or activities in and out of National City had taught her all about his safe spaces.

Cat may not have trusted her to sit Carter overnight, but she had been given charge of him in short bursts countless times in her two years with Cat.  His patterns and rhythms were nearly as familiar to her as Cat’s own.

She guessed wrong twice.  He wasn’t at the chessboards in the park next door to the penthouse, and he wasn’t in the arcade in CatCo Plaza.  She sighed and took off towards the National City Science Museum.  It was closed on Sunday evenings, but the Foucault Pendulum in the front terrace was lit from below with LED lights and Carter enjoyed watching the pendulum swing in its constant arc.  They had spent an afternoon there once, Carter explaining the science and math to Kara, who listened and watched and became semi-hypnotized by watching the swinging pin knocking down it’s pegs as it made its journey around the circle.

The silhouette of his curly hair was unmistakable in the twilight and she breathed a sigh of relief before sliding up next to him, leaning her elbows on the railing, mirroring his posture.  She had to remind herself that she was Supergirl, not Kara.

“Y’know, we used to have something kind of like this on Krypton.  We used it to compare our planet’s rotation to others in our system, to try to gauge relative passage of time between worlds.”  She rolled her eyes.  “My father made me study the equations until I was cross-eyed.”

Carter turned wide, surprised eyes on her.  “Supergirl!  What are you doing here?”

She turned her head to look at him.  “Your mom is really worried about you.  You just took off and didn’t tell her where you were going.”  She bumped his shoulder just a bit with her own.  “Not cool, kid.”

Carter frowned.  “She wants me to move away.  To Washington D.C.  She’s got a fancy new job with the President and she thinks I’m supposed to just be happy about it.”  His ire flared up and he squeezed his fists together.  “But I’m not happy about it.  I like my school and my friends and my house here.”

“Don’t you want to be closer to your Dad?”

He shrugged.  “I see my Dad a lot.  And it isn’t like they’re getting back together anyway.  Dad’s gay now.  I’ll still have two houses and two rooms.”  He turned his attention back to the swinging pendulum.  “Can I tell you something if you promise not to tell anyone else?”

“Yeah, of course,” she promised solemnly.  

“My National City life is my favorite life.  All my favorite places are here and my mom’s house is bigger and we go to the beach sometimes and it doesn’t snow.”  Kara read the guilt in his features as he continued.  “I love my Dad, and Steven, but D.C. is cold and I can’t walk to the arcade or the park there and…” he swallowed.  “I finally started making friends in the math club at school.”  His face twisted angrily.  “She can’t just take me away!”

Kara didn’t want to be the one to break the news to him, but she figured it might go down better from Supergirl than from the source of his pain.  She threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him against her side, turning him from the contraption in front of them and walking them down a solar paneled walkway that had just begun to glow in the falling darkness.  “I hate to be the one to tell you this, kiddo, but I’m afraid she can.”  He gasped as though she had betrayed him.  “She’s your mom, and where she goes, you have to go.”  She raised her eyebrows, silencing his next words.  “Parents do this all the time, move their families across cities or states or countries if it’s what’s best for the family as a whole and I promise you, Carter, your mom has thought about this long and hard.  And she knows this is the right thing for her family.  She wouldn’t be doing it otherwise.”

“Yes, she would,” Carter grumped.  “She only cares about herself.”

Kara stopped and turned to face him, holding him by his biceps, reigning in her strength, even in her intensity.  “That isn’t true, Carter.  You are the most important thing in your mom’s life.  She isn’t doing this to hurt you.  You have to give her a chance.”

Carter shook his head.  “I don’t have to go.  I can stay here by myself.  I can cook and clean and get myself to school.  She’s not selling the house.  I can stay here and be a grown-up.”  His eyes lit up in epiphany.  “You could check in on me!  No way mom will say no if Supergirl is around to look after me.”

Kara laughed.  “There’s no way that will ever happen, kid.”

Carter’s face fell and Kara sat him down on a nearby bench.  “I ran away once.”  Carter’s eyes widened, giving Kara permission to continue.  “I had just arrived on Earth.  I had lost my planet.  I was scared and sad.  My cousin looked after me for a few days, but he was young and really busy and didn’t know what to do, so he told me he was taking me all the way across the country to live with a new family.  They were friends of his but strangers to me.  I didn’t want to go.  I told him I wouldn’t, that I would fly away and live by myself and nobody would have to take care of me.”  She gauged Carter’s reaction.  He was listening intently, but his face was neutral.  “I shouted and cried and stomped all over his apartment.  I broke his TV and flew out the window.”  She smiled just a bit at the memory.  “He found me in, like two minutes, because I only knew three places in Metropolis and he made a deal with me.  I would go to live with my new family for one month, and if I hated it as much as I thought I would, he would take me away from them and let me live wherever or however I wanted.  We shook on it.”

“What happened?” Carter whispered.

“My new family showed me all about Earth, how to control my powers, all the best foods and games and… they loved me.  They are the best thing about my life here on Earth and my cousin never had to come back and get me.  He knew what was best for me.  I just had to give them a chance.”

Carter swallowed heavily.  “So, you’re saying…”

“I’ll make you a deal.  Give your mom one month in Washington.  And if you hate it as much as you say you will, I’ll come to D.C. myself and we’ll talk about what you want.  But you have to give it a fair chance and keep an open mind.”  She stuck her hand out to Carter.  “Deal?”

He shook her hand briefly before throwing his arms around her waist in a tight hug.  “Deal,” he breathed into her shoulder.

Before he knew it, Kara had them in the air and landing on the balcony.  She watched from outside as Cat squeezed Carter until he grunted from loss of breath.  She cupped his face and whispered gentle scolds into his blue eyes.  Kara watched with affection as both sets of Grant eyes filled with tears and the fabric of mother and son slowly and precariously knitted itself back together.  She’d seen it happen countless times with Alex and Eliza.  

When the pair sat down on the sofa and Kara began to feel like she was intruding, Cat looked back at her and mouthed a silent ‘Thank You.’

Kara lifted off from the balcony and returned to her apartment.  Her phone buzzed just as she landed inside her window.  The text message from Cat read:

_ ‘Carter will be sent to bed early.  Come back around 10 so we can talk?’ _

Kara smiled and texted back:

_ ‘Sure.’ _

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

She didn’t come to Cat that night as Supergirl.  She came as Kara Danvers.  Up the mirrored elevator and with a quiet knock on the door, even though she still possessed a key.

Cat handed her a glass of red wine as soon as she crossed the threshold.

“You know I can’t-”

“I know,” she interrupted.  “Humor me.”

Cat led her out to the balcony.  It seemed fitting.

“If I had known, I would have just come this way,” Kara teased.

“I’m glad you came as… you…” Cat tried to temper the intensity in her gaze, but having Kara in her presence again after so many days apart was like a balm to her irritated soul.  While she may have broken her dependence on Kara, her desire to have her close was as strong as ever.

Kara sipped her wine, for lack of anything else to do with her hands.

“I wanted to apologize, Kara.  It was unfair of me to ask you to change your whole world for me.  I was caught up in my own excitement and I guess I thought…”

“You thought right,” Kara answered quickly.  “Whatever it was you were thinking in that moment that told you I would want to join you, you weren’t wrong, Cat.”  Kara turned to her and lifted one hand to cup Cat’s cheek in a memory of how she’d held her face in her hands that morning so many days ago.  “I do want to join you, so very much.  I wish you could understand why I can’t.”

“So tell me.”  Cat pulled Kara’s hand from her face and held it as she sipped her own wine.  “I’m not angry anymore, Kara.  Tell me why.”

With a stroke of her thumb over Cat’s knuckles she let go of Cat’s hand and faced out towards the city.  “Supergirl belongs in National City.  You should know that better than anyone.  You created her, branded her, gave me to them.” She nodded towards the city, indicating the citizenry who so depended on her now.  “Supergirl is part of the fabric of this city.  I can’t just leave them.”

“Your powers don’t end at city limits, Kara.  You can do what you do in any city in the world.  And you can be across the country in a matter of minutes.  I don’t buy that you are held by those kinds of boundaries.”

Kara sighed.  “And when Kara Danvers and Supergirl turn up in Washington D.C. at Cat Grant’s side on the same day?  How will The Queen of All Media explain that when the White House Press Corps starts making uncomfortable inquiries.”

Cat waved her hand and drained her glass.  “That’s easily explained.”  She turned and headed back inside to refill her glass, Kara hot on her heels.

“No, it isn’t.  Besides, Cat, I have friends here, family, some of whom are actively trying to kill me.”

Cat spun and nearly missed her glass with the wine bottle.  Kara saved it just in time.  “My aunt, biological aunt, landed on earth with me and she’s… angry at my mother, and by extension me and let’s just say her plans for me and the people of National City are not particularly magnanimous.  I can’t just pick up and leave.  My sister and the agency she works for are tasked with stopping them.  She needs me.”  Kara met Cat’s eyes.  “And frankly… I need her too…”

Cat hung her head.  “Like I said.  Asking you to come was selfish and I apologize.  I’ve become… attached to you, Kara.  I would be lying if I said it didn’t hurt when you told me no so quickly.”

Kara stepped closer, lifting Cat’s wine glass from her fingers and replacing it with her hand, using her burst of courage to twine their fingers together.  “Would it have been better if I had thought about it and come to the same conclusion?”

Cat chuckled.  “No.  I suppose not.”  Cat stepped away and lifted her wineglass again.  “I’ve hired a new assistant.  He comes highly recommended by the President herself.  If he’s half as good as you, he’ll be just fine.”  She smiled warmly.

“Cat,” Kara wasn’t going to let the subject change go.  She stepped into Cat’s space again, this time draining the wine herself so Cat couldn’t return to it.  “I’m attached to you too, more than I’ve been willing to admit to myself for a very long time.”  She couldn’t meet Cat’s eyes, focusing instead on the lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead.  She took a moment to tuck it away, taking brief joy in the breath Cat released as her fingers stroked the shell of her ear.  “I’m going to miss you.”  Their eyes did meet now and held fast.  Their lips were inches apart, it would only take a tiny lean forward before Kara could have all those things she dared to dream of in her quietest moments.  “Very, very much.”

It was Cat who closed the distance and they lost themselves in soft lips and gentle tongues and wandering hands.  Kara pulled away, a single tear tracked down her cheek.  “Still want me to be your assistant?”

Cat laughed and sniffled, wiping her own tears.  “Yes, actually.  I want it all, Kara, the cake and the… eating.”

Kara turned crimson.  “I… could come visit?”

Cat sighed sadly and laid a final, sweet kiss on Kara’s soft lips.  “I don’t do long distance, darling.”  I’m afraid this is goodbye.

Kara nodded.  “Okay.”  She bestowed a final kiss to Cat’s lips.  “Good luck, Cat Grant.  Go take over the world.  You know where to find me if you ever need a rescue.”

“Good luck, Supergirl.  Take care of my city for me.  I’ll be back, someday.”

Kara caught Cat’s tear on her thumb just before she took off into the night.

That night, on opposite ends of town, National City’s most powerful women cried themselves to sleep.

 

+++++++++++++

 

Cat moved just after the first of the year.  Kara had celebrated Christmas in Midvale with Alex and Eliza and she tried to ignore the fact that Alex’s room still smelled faintly of Cat’s perfume.  She tried to forget each moment she had spent with Cat during the three days she had swept her away into hiding.

Cat had taken D.C. by storm.  She was terrorizing the White House Press Corps and making her mark in the Administration in ways nobody had expected.  She began to be known as the Woman of Steel at her podium, a callback to her time as Supergirl’s confidant and her ability to answer a difficult question with grace, humor and just the right amount of Cat Grant snark.

Kara didn’t take a new job.  She finally accepted Hank’s offer to pay Supergirl for her service to the DEO, which left her time to paint and write and dream about Cat.  They had, once again, captured Astra and a couple of her minions, but Non remained elusive.  Kara was close to convincing her aunt to give up her life of vengeance and join her in protecting Earth.  She felt that any day Astra may come around.  They had long talks in a room that made them both weak and sick and Kara remembered why she loved her aunt so very much.  Astra’s stubbornness frustrated Kara.

On top of her frustration with Astra, Kara was feeling restless and unmoored.  With Cat gone, her days were no longer anchored by lattes and layouts and she often found herself just flying aimlessly about the city, smelling the sea air and watching families play in the park.

Alex was the first to notice, but it was Astra that was finally able to get through to Kara.

“Are you happy, little one?” she asked one afternoon as they played a digital version of an old Kryptonian strategy game on a tablet between them.

Kara sighed.  “I’d be happier if you would quit being so stubborn and join us, Astra.  If I seem unhappy it’s because I feel so close to you, but still so far.”

“We aren’t talking about me, Kara.  We’re talking about you.  And it isn’t me that is making you unhappy.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  Kara made her move and watched as three of Astra’s tokens flashed red and became hers.

“You lost someone recently, no?”  Astra studied the board, before switching her focus to Kara’s face, which had become stony.

“That’s none of your business.”  Astra recaptured two of her own tokens and two of Kara’s.  “Dammit,” Kara swore.  “You never taught me that move.”

“If I had taught it to you, I would have given you everything you needed to best me.  A good strategist keeps some things to themselves.”  She winked and smiled.

Kara was becoming anxious.  She was losing the game and was still getting nowhere with Astra.  “Why won’t you join me?  I know you don’t believe in Non’s crusade any longer, Astra.  You’ve told me as much!  I can’t go in these circles any more.  Loving you and hating you all at once!  Why can’t you just be my aunt?  Fully and completely!”  Kara didn’t realize she was crying until Astra reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek.  

“Little one, I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”  Kara spat at her.  The realization of the last time she had heard those words hit Kara like a freight train and she punched the glass surrounding Astra’s cell hard enough to crack the glass in spite of the Kryptonite surrounding them.

“Right now, Kara… the answer is ‘can’t’.  But ‘can’t’ may turn to ‘won’t’ in a heartbeat or a breath,” she stood with Kara so she could meet her eyes, “can’t it, niece?”  She took Kara in her arms when the girl began to sob quietly.   “You, too, have ‘can’t’s in your life changing to ‘won’t’s in spite of themselves.  I can see them shining in your eyes.”  Astra smoothed Kara’s hair from her face and smiled gently.  “You must go, Kara.  Do not worry about me or Alexandra or Non.  You must go be happy, little one.  The rest will work out, I promise.”

Kara nodded, not trusting her voice.  “I taught Alex to play.” She pointed at the game.  “Go easy on her.”

“Only if she’ll go easy on me,” Astra grinned wickedly.  “You leave me with great incentive to join your side.”

“Okay, too much information, Astra.”  She kissed her aunt on the cheek.  “I’ll come visit.”  She ran from the room.

 

++++++++++++++++++++

 

“Good morning, Miss Grant.”

“Who are you?” Cat demanded, grabbing her morning messages from the strange person striding to keep up with her.

“Uh, just a temp, Miss Grant.  You fired your assistant yesterday, so they brought me in just to fill in, but, uh, your new-”

“What is this?”  She shook one of her messages in the man-child’s face.

“Um, Danny Concannon wants five minutes to discuss the alien rights bill, he said-”

“Danny Conanncon wants a date.  Call him back and tell him when hell freezes over, but see if he still has CJ Cregg’s number.”

The newbie was becoming out of breath with the fast pace Cat had been walking and was relieved when they reached the door to her office.  “Miss Grant, your new assistant is waiting in your office.”

Cat stopped and frowned at him.  “I haven’t hired a new assistant yet.”

“Oh, uh.  This one was hired for you.  Mr. Lloyd’s orders.”  He looked sheepish and cowered as Cat gave him her most withering look.

She continued to complain at her incompetent temp as she swung the door to her office open. “And since when does the Chief of Staff have any say in my choice of personal assistant?”

“Since this one came recommended by POTUS herself,” the voice from inside Cat’s office chimed in.

“Kara,” Cat breathed as the vision before her crossed the room and slammed the door in the temp’s face, pressing Cat against it.

“CJ Cregg, Cat?  Really?”  Kara teased, breath ghosting against Cat’s forehead, still unsure if she’d have permission to kiss her.

“Curse that superhearing of yours,” Cat said as she wrapped a tight fist around the lapel of a perfectly starched collar and pulled Kara’s lips to her own.

Kara whimpered into Cat’s mouth and wrapped her arms around Cat’s waist, lifting her off the ground and carrying her across the office to set her on the edge of her desk, knocking her nameplate to the ground in her haste.

Cat wrapped her arms around Kara’s neck and her legs around Kara’s hips and buried her face in Kara’s neck.  “What happened to ‘I can’t’?” was all she was able to get out.

“It turned into ‘I can’.”  Kara pulled them apart just enough to be able to press their foreheads together.  

“Are you really my new assistant?”

Kara shrugged.  “You wanted your cake,” she leaned forward to whisper in Cat’s ear, “and to eat it too.” She giggled at Cat’s delighted shiver, “but if we want to keep doing this,” she gave Cat’s ass a firm squeeze, “it’ll have to be temporary.”

Cat licked her lips and smiled into Kara’s laughing eyes.  “I suppose that’s only fair.”

“I’ll stay long enough to find you someone you won’t fire on the first day, then I’ll be joining the President’s protective detail, undercover with the D.C. branch of the DEO.”

“Then I’ll take advantage of you for as long as I have you at my beck and call.”  She pulled Kara into another long, lusty kiss.

She groaned at the knock on the door.  “Miss Grant?  The President is asking for you.”

“I’ll be right there!” she called over Kara’s shoulder.  Cat hopped off the desk.  “Latte, hot, and I actually do need CJ Cregg’s number.  She still has the key to one of these cabinets and I can’t get into it.  I’m not entirely convinced there isn’t a super secret this-is-how-you-do-this-job binder in it that could come in very handy-- or that works too.” 

Kara had strode over to the cabinet and effortlessly wrenched it open, pulling out a thick binder and a dusty package of goldfish crackers.

“POTUS awaits, Miss Grant.  I’ll have your latte for you when you return.”

Cat growled and pounced on Kara one last time, this kiss full of promise of things to come. 


End file.
